Programme for Government (General Practitioner Appointments)
This week’s programme for government promises to deliver 100,000 more general practitioner appointments, but Public Health Scotland says that, over the past year, there have been 500,000 fewer GP appointments than in the year before John Swinney became First Minister. The British Medical Association Scotland says that the Scottish National Party’s pledge is equivalent to just one extra day of appointments—an increase of less than 1 per cent—and that is only if the SNP delivers it. Public Health Scotland data reveals that, in the first three months of 2025, the number of GP appointments was the worst on record. The SNP’s programme for government is a pathetic con. Is the limit of John Swinney’s ambition just to undo a small amount of the damage that was inflicted by John Swinney?
The programme for government has set out the steps that we are taking to expand capacity within the health service to meet the demand for appointments with GPs. It will include the delivery of 100,000 additional appointments, which will be available through GPs, to examine particular high-risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking, but there will also be an expansion of the availability of the pharmacy first service, which is designed to meet the healthcare needs of individuals where it is relevant to their circumstances. It also includes the expansion of the availability of island health practitioners in front-line healthcare services, with a commitment to expand the funding available to primary care services as a greater proportion of new national health service funding. The combination of those factors will make an impact on access to GP services in Scotland.
After 18 years of failure, John Swinney is now desperately trying to clear up the mess that his Government has made. BMA Scotland says that the Government’s rhetoric is
“failing to match the reality”
and the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland says that it simply does not
“have the workforce capacity to deliver”
the 100,000 extra appointments.
The way to increase appointments is to increase the number of GPs. The SNP promised us 800 more, but that has not happened. The SNP constantly makes big pledges about the NHS, but it always fails patients. It never keeps its word. Why should anyone believe that John Swinney will keep his latest promise when the SNP breaks them all the time?
First, the number of GPs has increased. In 2017, there were 4,904. According to the latest statistics, there are now 5,211. Secondly, the Government is putting in place arrangements for the 100,000 extra appointments as a consequence of negotiating that agreement with the self-same organisations to which Mr Findlay referred.
The people of Scotland know that my Government is absolutely focused on delivering on the issues that are of concern to them. That is partly about improving access to the national health service. As I set out to Parliament on Tuesday, the Scottish Government is absolutely focused on delivering on the people’s priorities.
John Swinney says that he is focused on delivery, but he is focused on spin. Let us look at the SNP’s record on the NHS. At the start of this session of Parliament, it published an NHS recovery plan, which it claimed would
“drive the recovery of our NHS, not just to its pre-pandemic level but beyond.”
Quite rightly, my party condemned Humza Yousaf’s plan as “embarrassingly thin” and “flimsy”. It turns out that the SNP agreed with us. We now know what Nicola Sturgeon really thought of her Government’s big plan. She said:
“My specific concern is that it’s awful.”
For once, Nicola Sturgeon was right. John Swinney was Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery at that time, so he must have had a view on it, too. What words would he use to describe it?
I do not think that it is a particular revelation for Parliament to hear that the Conservatives condemned something. They condemn absolutely everything. They have absolutely nothing—[Interruption.]
Let us hear one another.
They have absolutely nothing constructive to contribute to the debate. Let me say to Mr Findlay that, during my term in office as First Minister, we promised to provide 64,000 extra appointments by the end of March 2025. We did not do that. In fact, we delivered 105,500 extra appointments and procedures in that timescale, and we will deliver more in the forthcoming parliamentary year. I say to Mr Findlay—just so that he is not worried about it in the future—that this Government will deliver more in the course of the next 12 months. I will be very happy to answer parliamentary questions about that—not just before the election but after it, when I will remain as First Minister.
It was a simple question, but I am not surprised that John Swinney is not prepared to come clean about what he thought at the time, because this is a dishonest Government that is addicted to secrecy.
Mr Findlay, let us carry out our business in a courteous manner.
We saw that when Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney deleted their messages that should have been provided to the UK Covid inquiry. We see it with the SNP wasting taxpayers’ money on a shameful cover-up about its NHS recovery plan. The SNP spent four years hiding the truth from the public about what Nicola Sturgeon really thought. Humza Yousaf’s plan caused waiting lists to rise, not fall. It was flimsy rubbish, as we said. Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney both knew that, but the SNP hid the truth from the public, so Humza Yousaf failed upwards. John Swinney helped Nicola Sturgeon’s awful health secretary become an awful First Minister. If the SNP had been honest and transparent, would Humza Yousaf have become First Minister?
What an absolutely miserable contribution to parliamentary discourse—completely and utterly. That is all that the Conservatives have left. They are in such a—[Interruption.]
I do not know why Rachael Hamilton is laughing—[Interruption.]
Let us hear one another. We have observers in the gallery and people tuning in online. Let us make sure that we can all hear what is being said.
The public cast a judgment on the Conservative Party last Thursday, and it was pretty damning indeed about the future of the Conservative Party.
What the public are interested in, and what I am interested in, is delivering on the priorities of the people of Scotland. Right at the heart of the Government’s programme is investment to support increased capacity in the national health service, so that we deliver more GP appointments and better access to GP services, and get waiting lists down. That will preoccupy my thinking as First Minister. I will leave Mr Findlay to sit on the sidelines, as he does every week, throwing insults around and contributing nothing—I am going to deliver for the people of Scotland.
Programme for Government (Homelessness)
This week, after 18 years in office, the Scottish National Party conceded that it has no plan, is out of steam and has lost its way. John Swinney announced a bland and unambitious programme for government that does nothing to address the issues that Scotland faces. There is no plan to fix the national health service crisis that the SNP created, no plan to deal with the falling standards and soaring violence in our schools that the SNP is presiding over, and no plan to end the scandal of 10,000 homeless children on John Swinney’s watch.
When a member of this Parliament raised the issue of homeless children, John Swinney shamefully told them to
“find something else ... to moan about”.—[Official Report, 6 May 2025; c 29.]
In a damning assessment, Shelter Scotland called John Swinney’s plan “a programme for homelessness”. Does he think that Shelter Scotland should find something else to moan about?
I may have used language that was particularly not worthy of me. If I have done that and used language that has not been appropriate for the way I go about my business and people are concerned about that, of course I regret it.
Let me come back to the facts of all this. Since 2007, when this Government came to office, we have delivered 47 per cent more affordable homes per head of population than in England and 73 per cent more than in Wales. In addition, in the past year, we have had more house-building completions per 10,000 people in Scotland than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also just passed a budget, which Mr Sarwar did not support, that is investing £768 million in affordable housing in Scotland.
We are addressing the homelessness issues that we face in our society, and we are taking action to support local authorities in tackling void accommodation. We will continue to do that, and we will focus on making sure that we address the needs of people in Scotland.
The fact is that we have 10,000 homeless children and John Swinney has no plan to deal with that. He said that the focus of his programme for government was fixing the NHS, which he and his colleagues in the Scottish National Party have broken. Yet again, the details prove that they have no idea of how to fix the mess that they created. It is so bad that Dr Iain Morrison, chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, responded to the plan by saying:
“yet again, the rhetoric on this is failing to match the reality.”
We agree that we need to end the 8 am rush for an appointment with a general practitioner, but what is John Swinney’s plan? One extra appointment for every GP every fortnight will hardly end the 8 am rush for GP appointments, will it?
That is only one part of the plan that we are taking forward, which I will come on to in a second.
Before I get to that, let us look at the issue of temporary accommodation. Because of the financial support that the Scottish Government has put in place, 20 local authority areas have reduced the number of children in temporary accommodation. In 2023-24, 12 local authorities reduced the number of households in temporary accommodation. Why is that happening? It is happening because the Government has put financial support in place to ensure that void accommodation can be brought back into use so that families can be accommodated. That is a change in Government policy that has been made under my leadership. Now—yes, right now; it is all happening as we speak—local authority temporary accommodation levels are coming down because of investment from the Government. That is investment in a budget that the Labour Party refused to support. Labour members should not come here and complain about housing when they were not prepared to press a button to vote in favour of £768 million. No wonder I complain about the Labour Party whinging about things.
He has done it again!
Let us hear one another.
On GP appointments, the Government is taking a number of measures. We are delivering 100,000 additional appointments for GPs. We are also expanding pharmacy first services to reduce pressure and demand on GP services, and we are expanding the availability of allied health practitioners in front-line health services. Those measures will deal with the issues that have been raised about the 8 am rush by reducing pressure on GP services. That is the plan that the Government is taking forward, and that is what the Government will implement.
John Swinney has just exposed himself all over again. On Tuesday, he said, shamefully, that we should
“find something else ... to moan about”—[Official Report, 6 May 2025; c 29.]
other than homelessness. He has stood up and apologised for the bad language, because that is not how he operates, but he has just complained that we are whinging about homelessness. [Interruption.] Shelter Scotland called the programme for government a “programme for homelessness”, and he should wake up and listen to what it has to say.
The deadly situation in our NHS, caused by the SNP, is vast, but whole areas were omitted from the First Minister’s programme for government. I take just one example—our ambulance service. Today, Scottish Labour can reveal shocking new figures that show that ambulances are being left to queue up outside hospitals for hours on end, turning car parks into makeshift accident and emergency wards across Scotland. Sick patients are receiving life-saving treatment in parking bays outside hospitals. At Aberdeen royal infirmary, one ambulance was stuck outside for more than 15 hours. In Ayr, another ambulance waited nearly 15 hours. In Elgin, the wait was 12 hours. Car parks have been turned into A and E wards; corridor care is now a normality; 800,000 people are stuck on waiting lists; and a record number of Scots are being forced to go private. Is it not the case that the party that created Scotland’s NHS crisis cannot be the one to fix it?
On performance in our hospitals, significant challenges remain in the national health service, which I have acknowledged in all my answers to First Minister’s questions.
On the four-hour A and E targets, the latest data shows that there has been an improvement in performance and that it has strengthened over recent weeks. When we look at the delivery of pledges on waiting times in our national health service, as I indicated in my earlier answer to Mr Findlay, we pledged to conduct 64,000 additional appointments by the end of March 2025. We did not do that; we delivered 105,500. In addition, we have put in place investment, but the Labour Party could not bring itself to support that in the budget.
The point that I am making to the Parliament is that the Labour Party comes here to complain about issues, but it will not do the heavy lifting to support the budget that makes the investment possible. I point out to the Labour Party that it voted against record investment of £21 billion in the national health service, yet it comes to chamber to complain to me about different issues. That is the hypocrisy that I am highlighting from the Labour Party. We have set out that our investment in the NHS will be focused on addressing the priorities of the people, which is to reduce waiting times and improve access to GP services. The Government will deliver on those commitments.
Housing (Scotland) Bill
I first raised the need for rent controls well over a decade ago, to the complete disinterest of the Scottish National Party housing minister of the day. By then, private rented housing had already been growing dramatically for years, and rents had continued to spiral. The situation now is far more severe. Even if rent controls had been in place just for the past five years, people renting their homes in places such as Glasgow and Edinburgh would be thousands of pounds a year better off.
I am glad that the Greens’ efforts and the work of tenants unions have resulted in a housing bill with rent controls for Scotland, even if it is weaker because of SNP amendments. I am also glad that our plans for energy efficiency rules for private landlords are finally going to happen. Will the First Minister explain why it took so many years of pressure from the Greens to make the SNP accept that rents are too high, that standards are too low and that urgent action is needed?
There are a range of provisions in statute and under existing arrangements to protect tenants. There are protections around evictions, and there have been protections around winter evictions. Support is in place through discretionary housing payments to assist tenants. A range of measures to protect tenants have been put in place by the Scottish Government over the years.
I welcome the fact that we are in agreement with Mr Harvie on the question of the housing legislation that is in front of Parliament, which the Parliament has passed at stage 1 and is considering at stage 2. We will introduce a system of rent controls, and I look forward to further parliamentary scrutiny on that issue.
The frustration comes with the delay, and I know that that frustration is felt by SNP members who have voted for rent control policy for many years without action happening. There was never any need for the many years of delay, and we could have done far more good for people by acting sooner.
The Housing (Scotland) Bill must make rent more affordable, and it will need to be strengthened if it is going to do that. It must also provide more protection for people who rent their homes. People deserve the right to withhold rent payments when issues such as mould, damp and serious repairs are being left by landlords for months—sometimes years—on end. Will the First Minister back the Green proposal to give people the right to withhold rent payment until repairs are completed to stop landlords profiting while they ignore their responsibilities, or is that another issue that will take 10 years of pressure before the Government acts?
As I said, the bill is going through stage 2 consideration. If amendments are lodged, ministers will consider the issues that arise out of that process and, ultimately, the bill will come back to Parliament for stage 3 consideration.
I acknowledge the issue that Mr Harvie raises with me. The purpose of the rent control legislation is to ensure that tenants have more say and more control, and that landlords fulfil their obligations. Those considerations will lie at the heart of the legislation.
Water Scarcity Alerts
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to water scarcity alerts issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for the east of Scotland, in light of low rainfall and warm temperatures. (S6F-04057)
SEPA’s latest report highlighted that 17 out of 47 areas in Scotland are in alert status for water scarcity, and that most of the rest of the country is in early warning status. An update on that position will be published by the regulator SEPA later on this afternoon. SEPA has contacted those who abstract water, including businesses and farmers, in the affected areas, and has provided them with advice. Public drinking water supply in those areas is not affected.
We are working closely with SEPA, Scottish Water and others to ensure that water supply is monitored and supported in line with Scotland’s national water scarcity plan. Climate change is driving more extreme conditions, and we all need to adapt to that reality. I urge businesses, organisations and individuals to do their part to plan ahead and use water wisely.
It is worrying that many rivers, including the Dee and the Don, which bound my constituency, have such low water levels at this time of year. In spite of nature’s clear warnings, we are currently witnessing climate change denial and an even stronger pushback against net zero and a just transition from the likes of Farage and even from Tony Blair. Does the First Minister share my concerns that the rise of this regressive anti-net zero agenda puts at great risk all the vital work to grow our green economy and create jobs for the future?
I share those concerns. At the present moment, in early May, the water scarcity map makes quite difficult reading, because we face acute challenges that we would never ordinarily face at this time of the year. That illustration of climate change requires us to take the necessary action that Mr Stewart has suggested. That is why it is central to the Government’s programme.
Prevention Measures (Health)
To ask the First Minister, in light of the publication of the programme for government, what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that prevention is more strongly integrated into the health system. (S6F-04062)
As I set out in January and reinforced in our programme for government, a long-term shift to prevention is central to sustaining and renewing our national health service. Scotland has led the way in public health action over many years, with bold measures such as the indoor smoking ban and minimum unit pricing for alcohol. We will build on that action by publishing our new population health framework in the coming weeks.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s latest fiscal sustainability report highlights the major effect on health spending of the rising prevalence of long-term preventable illnesses among Scots and the sizeable impact on Scotland’s finances if such a rise continues.
In this chamber, we always seem to talk in statistics, to highlight how good we are or are not. However, as I have highlighted for the decade that I have been a member of this Parliament, when we are talking about health, the only statistic that matters is that Scotland continues to be the unhealthiest nation in Europe—many of those indicators continue to worsen at an alarming rate.
Does the First Minister agree that this fiscal sustainability report must be the final wake-up call for action and that, through early intervention, we must take greater steps to prevent illness, particularly by encouraging healthier lifestyles, supporting the third sector and improving access to sport and physical activity? If the Scottish Government continues on its current trajectory, the health service will fast become unsustainable.
I generally agree with the points that Mr Whittle has made about the importance of preventative interventions, and that approach is exactly what the Government is pursuing.
As he knows, in 2010, I commissioned the Christie commission report, which gave us valuable insight into the approach to prevention. The Government has applied that approach to programmes such as: the promotion of healthy eating; the work to tackle obesity and reduce harms from smoking and vaping; the investment in sport and active living; the work to increase vaccination uptake; and our work on the benefits of social prescribing. I assure Mr Whittle that that focus on prevention will remain central to the Government’s programme.
The First Minister talks about prevention, but the Edinburgh integration joint board is being forced to make cuts to preventative care and third sector organisations, including the Stafford centre, which supports 640 people with mental health issues and is estimated to save the NHS up to £4.4 million in hospital admissions. Given the situation in joint boards across Scotland, does the First Minister recognise that prevention will not be possible if IJBs are in permanent financial crisis?
Obviously, I want to make sure that the types of services that Mr Choudhury has raised are supported around the country. Those are operational decisions for integration joint boards to make. They can make those decisions based only on the financial allocations that this Parliament makes, and Mr Choudhury was unable to support the allocations of funding that the Government made to cover such services.
We will certainly work with the integration joint boards, but Mr Choudhury cannot be absolved of his responsibility for failing to support the budget, which is delivering the investment that is necessary in health and social care. [Interruption.] The Labour Party members can moan at me all they want about the public finances—
Members, let us hear one another.
—but they have not been prepared to put the money in to support people in the communities of Scotland.
My question follows on from the previous question. I have been contacted by numerous charities in my region that will have to cease providing vital preventative care for individuals in the Lothians due to the IJB cuts. The First Minister said that he wants to lay aside politics and do the best for the people of Scotland. Will he now intervene in the crisis to make sure that NHS Lothian does not cut the budget to the IJB? That cut would put vulnerable people out of the services that they require. Rather than talk about previous measures, will he now be proactive in working with NHS Lothian and the council to make sure that the IJB gets the appropriate funding?
The Government engages with health boards around the country, and local authorities have their own decisions to make as part of the IJB structures. We will engage constructively in any way that we can to help on those issues.
Mr Balfour is another one who comes here and asks me to invest in local services, when his party leader wants me to cut public expenditure by £1 billion. How will that help IJBs around the country?
I will not tire of pointing out the total and utter hypocrisy of the people who come here asking for tax cuts and wanting me to spend more money. It is hypocrisy on stilts.
A83 Rest and Be Thankful (Landslip Shelter)
To ask the First Minister when the landslip shelter on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful will be complete. (S6F-04067)
The Government is committed to delivering an infrastructure solution to address the landslip risk at the Rest and Be Thankful as soon as possible. Delivery of a permanent solution is a priority.
In December, we published draft orders for both the long-term solution and future stages of the medium-term improvements. Construction can commence only if it is approved under the relevant statutory authorisation process. Therefore, a timetable for construction can be determined only at that time.
The First Minister will be aware of the huge impact that the closure of the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful has on the economy and the people of Argyll. However, it did not happen just yesterday; it has been a problem for more than 15 years.
All that local people want is a road that stays open when it rains. Instead, local campaigners have little confidence that the Scottish National Party will deliver a solution, given the Government’s track record on road building. They are not whingers, First Minister; they fear that it could be another decade and £500 million before the road is actually usable. Will the First Minister commit today to accelerating that much-needed work to ensure that the people of Argyll are not disadvantaged by the continual closure of the A83?
I acknowledge the significance of that area for access to Argyll and Bute. That point is regularly made to me by Jenni Minto, the local member for Argyll.
We have taken steps to ensure that we strengthen the alternative route through the old military road so that it is operational to provide connectivity and to avoid the lengthy diversion that is required should all of those accesses be unavailable.
The steps that are to be taken to ensure that the landslip shelter is put in place are under way. As I have told Jackie Baillie, the preparatory work is being undertaken. The Government will be happy to share details with the Parliament and local stakeholders. I am pretty sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport has met the Rest and Be Thankful interested parties to discuss the issue and the progress that can be made.
We move to constituency and general supplementaries.
Harbour Energy
Harbour Energy, which is the largest independent oil and gas firm in the North Sea and is based in my Aberdeen Donside constituency, has announced that it will cut around 250 onshore jobs in Scotland. It has put the blame squarely at the feet of the Labour United Kingdom Government and its policies.
Successive UK Governments have ignored warnings about job losses and treated Aberdeen as a cash cow, and efforts to deliver a just transition are being undermined. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the on-going situation? Will the First Minister join me in writing to the UK Government to urge it to take the action that is required to support jobs in Scotland’s energy sector—[Interruption.]
Let us hear Ms Dunbar.
Will the First Minister comment on the importance of a just transition for energy workers? I say to Conservative members that I do not find it funny.
I agree with Jackie Dunbar that a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled offshore energy workers is essential. I am deeply concerned to hear the news from Harbour Energy about its plans in Aberdeen. My thoughts are first and foremost with the workforce, which faces an extraordinarily anxious time. The Deputy First Minister is speaking with Harbour Energy on the matter today.
The fiscal and regulatory regimes for offshore oil and gas are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government has made clear our concern about the extension and scale of the energy profits levy. I urge the UK Government to engage with the industry to address the fiscal realities and implications of the UK Government’s position.
Harbour Energy
The 250 jobs going from Harbour Energy will be a devastating blow for the families involved. Enough is enough. We have a Labour Government in Westminster that is determined to destroy the north-east and the oil and gas industry, but we also have a Scottish National Party Government that is asleep at the wheel, with no energy strategy and a presumption against new oil and gas, and that is selling out communities all over the north-east. Will the First Minister apologise to the 250 workers who are set to lose their livelihoods as his Government turns its back on the north-east?
My concern, first and foremost, is about the wellbeing of the workforce in Harbour Energy. I do not think that the way in which Mr Lumsden characterises the issue is in any way remotely helpful in addressing the concerns of that workforce.
I point out to Mr Lumsden and the Conservative Party that the energy profits levy was a product of the previous Conservative UK Government—[Interruption.]
Let us hear the First Minister.
It does not matter how much I get barracked in this Parliament—I will point out the hard realities and implications of the Conservative Party’s decisions in the United Kingdom Government.
One of the things that I think would help enormously in this whole area of policy is for the current United Kingdom Government to do something that the previous Conservative Government did not do, which is to commit urgently and swiftly to the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. That would help us enormously. The Conservatives never lifted a finger to make that happen—not one finger. I hope that the Labour Party will not do the same.
Attainment Gap
In February, the First Minister told the chamber that the overall attainment gap had reduced by 60 per cent, but, today, the UK Statistics Authority has confirmed that the figure that has been used is not even part of the First Minister’s Government’s framework for measuring the attainment gap.
In its letter to me, the UK Statistics Authority says:
“To maintain trust and confidence in their statements, Ministers should take care that when they claim progress of their policies it is by their own defined measures”.
That intervention demolishes the Government’s claim on the attainment gap and exposes the truth—that a generation of children have been let down by a Government that is more interested in spinning numbers than in solving problems. Will the First Minister now admit that he and his Government have failed to close the attainment gap?
I acknowledge the contents of the letter from the UK Statistics Authority.
I have used one particular measure of the attainment gap—I could use others. The poverty-related attainment gap between young people from the most and least-deprived areas meeting standards in literacy is at a record low in primary schools, and the attainment gap has reached record lows between secondary pupils achieving third level in literacy and numeracy. Those are some of the points.
I accept that there remains an attainment gap in Scottish education. This morning, I visited Brunstane primary school in east Edinburgh and saw at first hand the effect of the Scottish attainment challenge programme, which has supported the development of leadership in the school, enhanced the curriculum and led to greater engagement with families and a rise in the attendance of young people at our school. That is a consequence of the investment that we, as a Government, are able to make available.
Nothing will detract me from focusing on improving the life chances of children, whether or not they are living in poverty, and ensuring that we tackle the issues around household income and engagement with schools. That will lie at the heart of the steps that we are taking in relation to our attainment agenda.
Deaf People (Support)
In light of this being deaf awareness week, what is the Scottish Government doing to support deaf people in Scotland?
I welcome the contribution that Karen Adam makes on these issues. It is important to highlight the importance of deaf awareness week to increasing understanding of deaf culture and language. The Deputy First Minister met members of the community last week. The “British Sign Language National Plan 2023-2029” represents our on-going commitment to making Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, visit and learn.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (Service Cuts)
As we have already heard, the proposals by the Edinburgh integration joint board are likely to see key services cut, including drop-in support, carers services and, even as we mark victory in Europe day, veterans support services. The First Minister apportioned blame, but the cuts are not acceptable. The IJB will cut £29 million from services in Edinburgh. Does he think that our health services will be improved by the decisions that are being taken by the IJB? Will he agree to meet the cross-party group of MSPs who are trying to raise the issue in Parliament and who have just had the First Minister whack this back at us? We need action and we want the First Minister to take heed of that today.
I am simply being straight with the Parliament about—[Interruption.]
Thank you, members
I am simply being straight with the Parliament about the realities that we have to face. That is what I am doing.
I understand the issues that Miles Briggs is raising with me. I am totally familiar with them and I understand the importance of them. I have just answered Mr Whittle about the importance of a focus on preventative interventions, and many of the interventions that Mr Briggs is talking about are preventative interventions.
However, the point that I am making to the Parliament is that investment in those services does not happen by accident. It happens by political choice. Mr Briggs was one of those who voted against the Government’s budget and he argued in favour, as his leader did, of £1 billion of cuts in public expenditure. How does Mr Briggs think that it would be possible to invest in local services with £1 billion of swingeing cuts from the Conservatives?
West Coast Ferry Contract
Today, the Scottish Government announced the direct award of the west coast ferry contract to CalMac Ferries, citing that there are no legal barriers to doing so, yet, oddly, it used the opposite argument for why it could not award a contract to Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.
The real question on the minds of islanders is whether the removal of the tender process will deliver better and more reliable lifeline ferry services. Just days ago, CalMac made a unilateral decision to reduce the frequency of sailings to the isle of Cumbrae. That decision has been met with absolute fury on the island, and described as absurd, reckless and ridiculous by local businesses. I will forward that correspondence to the First Minister this afternoon.
What comfort will the First Minister offer island communities that they will be properly consulted before key decisions are made, and what comfort will they have that the decision to direct award the contract will improve their ferry services?
That is at the very heart of the direct award; there is an objective of doing exactly that. One of the key obligations in the contract is the necessity of engaging with communities. There is a more significant role in the direct award for the ferries community board, which is able to articulate many of the issues that Mr Greene has put to me. The contract is structured to ensure that community voice and community aspiration are right at the heart of the delivery of ferry services. That will be a contractual obligation of CalMac.
India and Pakistan Conflict
The recent escalation in threats between India and Pakistan is deeply concerning for all of us across Scotland, but particularly for those of my Glasgow Anniesland constituents who are of Indian and Pakistani heritage. Many people are anxiously watching the situation develop. Will the First Minister join me in urging de-escalation in the region? Does he agree that peace and stability across the world are best achieved by dialogue and diplomacy and not by violence?
The terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan are highly concerning. I share Mr Kidd’s aspiration that all leaders should choose dialogue, diplomacy and shared humanity ahead of force and bloodshed. There can be no winners in further military escalation. The world has enough conflict on its hands at present. I urge that dialogue in order to resolve the issues.
Scotland’s Indian and Pakistani communities enrich Scotland’s society socially, culturally and economically. I am mindful of the importance of encouraging and sustaining community cohesion in what will be a worrying time. I will do everything that I can to try to draw communities together at this anxious time in Scotland.
Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill
In the past couple of months, I have been contacted by many survivors of domestic abuse from my West Scotland region and from across the country. Many of those brave women told me that their abusers were repeat offenders and that their ordeal could have been prevented.
My Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill was published this morning. If passed, it would create a domestic abuse register, similar to the sex offenders register, to act as a deterrent and give further protection to potential victims. Will the Scottish Government back my bill, which has received the support of third sector organisations as well as many survivors of domestic abuse?
Ministers have met Pam Gosal several times to discuss her bill. I acknowledge that it has been published this morning. As always with members’ bills, the Government will engage on that question. We are always willing to explore any options to reduce crime and reoffending, particularly as they affect domestic abuse in our society. Ministers will be happy to engage on that question.
Peak Rail Fares (Abolition)
My constituents in Rutherglen will welcome the recent announcement that peak rail fares are to be abolished on publicly owned ScotRail trains. How much does the First Minister anticipate that the average commuter in Scotland will save over the course of a year’s travel thanks to that intervention by the Scottish National Party—the only party that people in Scotland can rely on to protect their interests and to deliver for them?
The Government is committed to supporting individuals who face challenges in the cost of living crisis that we are experiencing. The steps that the Government announced on Tuesday will support commuters. For example, an individual who commutes each working day between Edinburgh and Glasgow could expect to save almost £4,000 over the course of the year, from September, which is a formidable saving to assist individuals in their lives. That is just another example of the cost of living guarantee. People can be assured by a Government that is prepared to put a budget to the Parliament to support that, and to make sure that we help hard-pressed householders the length and breadth of Scotland.
First Minister (Salary)
John Swinney recently awarded all his highly paid ministers a £20,000 increase in their salary. Despite saying that he would not benefit from that, a response to a freedom of information request that I have received suggests that John Swinney did receive the increased salary in his most recent pay packet. Given that John Swinney said earlier that he wants to be “straight with the Parliament”, can he tell us whether it is correct that his most recent pay packet included that uplift? Will he pay that money back? Does he accept the anger among people across Scotland who see highly paid ministers get a salary increase while budgets are cut?
What I decided to do about ministerial pay was to apply the approach that pertained when Mr Ross was a minister in the United Kingdom Government—
Did you get it or not?
Mr Ross.
—which is that ministers are entitled to take their full pay as members of the Scottish Parliament, but that their ministerial pay remains frozen at 2008-09 levels. Actually, I do not think that that was the position when Mr Ross was a minister.
Ministers in the Scottish Government are getting the same pay, as MSPs, as everybody else, apart from—[Interruption.]
Mr Ross, if I hear you once more, you will leave this chamber.
Please continue, First Minister.
To be clear—it is important that members of the public hear the facts—ministers will get their full MSP salary in the same way that every other member of the Scottish Parliament gets their full salary, apart from one person: me. I have decided—voluntarily—to maintain the freeze on my MSP pay as well as the freeze on my First Minister’s salary. To the best of my knowledge, I have not had an increase in my salary, in terms of the cash payment that has been made, as a consequence of the recent uplift. [Interruption.]
I will go and check that, and I will make the position clear this afternoon. I am very happy to do that. I have no worries about sharing that information. I have said to the public and to Parliament that I will not take an increase in my MSP salary and I will not take an increase in my ministerial pay; it will be frozen at 2008-09 levels. From my recollection, I do not think that any different pay has been put into my bank account. [Interruption.] I will go and check that, but I do not think that that is the case. [Interruption.]
I think that it says something about where the Conservative Party has reached that—[Interruption.]
Let us hear the First Minister.
I think that it says something about the depths that the Conservative Party has now reached that it is not prepared to take in good faith anything that is said across the chamber. It never ceases to amaze me how low the Conservative Party will stoop. It is a disgusting organisation.
That concludes First Minister’s question time. The next item of business is a members’ business debate in the name of Michael Marra. We will have a short suspension to allow those who are leaving the gallery and the chamber to do so.
12:56 Meeting suspended.